It was pretty chilly this morning, so I waited for it to warm up, and took off on the Corsa just past noon. I did pretty much the same route as last Saturday, first riding out to Purtis Creek State Park, then on into Van Zandt County, doing a loop out to SH 19 and back. There was a pretty stiff west-southwest wind that made the return ride a chore. I ended up with 51.6 miles.

Rose and I did two 25 mile rides on the Screamer tandem this week, so I managed to ride over 100 miles for the week. There are quite a few January weeks that I don’t get that many miles, so a warm enough week to get some miles in was appreciated.

Today’s route.

The Screamer at Purtis Creek State Park.

I took off on the Xstream this afternoon and rode to Purtis Creek. I ended up with 25.2 miles. It will be my last ride of 2013. I rode a total of 5,034 miles this year. That’s a lot less than the 7,000+ miles I had ridden each of the last four years. In fact, it’s less than any annual total since my first full year of riding in 2005. My new job and a move combined to reduce my miles a lot this year. And it seems likely that this will be my new mileage normal for the next few years.

Looking back at my bike journal, I thought it would be interesting to see just how many adult miles I’ve ridden since I got back on a bike for the first time in over 40 years in September, 2004. I’ve kept a journal, and here are my annual total mileages:

2004 – 930 miles
2005 – 5,013.7 miles
2006 – 5,044.6 miles
2007 – 6,161 miles
2008 – 6,708 miles
2009 – 7,440.9 miles
2010 – 7,555.4 miles
2011 – 7,519 miles
2012 – 7,224.6 miles
2013 – 5,034.4 miles

That makes a total of 58,631 miles that I’ve ridden in my adult life, in a little over 9 years of riding. I likely won’t get that many miles in the next 10 years, but if I just managed 42,000 miles, that would make 100,000 miles of riding. A worthy goal, I’m thinking. Happy New Year, everyone!

I took off on the Xstream this morning, just before noon. I hadn’t ridden in a week and a half. Here in Gun Barrel City, we didn’t get the ice storm that DFW did, but between work and the cold and wet weather, I just haven’t ridden. I had planned on starting my ride much earlier today, before the wind got up so much, but it drizzled most of the night, and the roads were very wet when I got up. They finally looked pretty dry by late morning, so off I went.

It stayed pretty chilly on today’s ride, cloudy with drizzle at times, and the temperature slowly cooled from the mid forties to 39 degrees by the time I finished. The 30 mph north wind made it feel colder than it was, too. For the first time since my bike commuting days, I broke out my handlebar mitts, and put them on the Xstream this morning, figuring that would help. And, they certainly did.

I rode out to Purtis Creek State Park, then made my usual loop into Van Zandt County, then stopped again at Purtis Creek on the way back. I ended up with 50 miles. That spiced Chai hot tea is tasting pretty good about now. I definitely got a chill from the ride. But at least I can say I managed a few miles on the bike this week.

I was armed (handed?) with bar mitts today.

Today’s route.

The forecast for later in the week is pretty bad, cold with freezing rain or sleet. So, I figured I’d better get my riding miles early in the week. With that in mind, I got up at dark-thirty yesterday (Monday) morning, and took off on the Xstream in the darkness and pea soup fog, and rode out to Purtis Creek State Park. I ended up with 25.2 miles.

When I got home from work, there was still a couple of hours of daylight, so I did the same ride out to Purtis Creek again, for another 25.2 miles. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever done 25 mile rides both before and after work.

I got home from work early again today, so I took off on the Xstream and rode to Purtis Creek, then on into Van Zandt County. I ended up with 50.3 miles. So, I have 100 miles for the week so far, and it’s only Tuesday.

Looking at the blog, I haven’t made an entry since the beginning of November. It isn’t that I haven’t been riding. I did 13 rides in November, for almost 500 miles. That’s not a great mileage month by my standards, but it’s not bad, either. But, all the rides were solo rides from home, all 50 miles or less, nothing that seemed worthy of a blog entry.

Today’s route.

This friend joined me at the turnaround point of a 25 mile ride out to Purtis Creek on November 18th.

My 25 mile ride to Purtis Creek on November 13th was the first time I’d ridden the Xstream after work into the State Park, rather than early morning when there’s no one at the entrance. One thing about riding the Xstream, when they give me that state park receipt for taping to a windshield, I actually have a windshield to tape it to.

I didn’t get to ride the bike at all this week. With the rain early in the week and the hours I worked later in the week, it never worked out. So, I figured I would do a longer ride today. Rando friend Stephen Hazelton was hosting my Itasca Disasta 207k permanent this morning. It starts in Midlothian, which is about 60 miles from here, so I decided I would just drive over and join him.

It was 43 degrees with gusting north winds when I arrived in Midlothian for the 8:00 am ride start. That must have discouraged some of those who were going to do the ride. There were just 5 of us who showed up. I had doubts about whether or not I had brought enough clothes. And I was wearing shorts with leg warmers. With a high of 68 degrees forecast, I figured I would shed the leg warmers some time during the day. It only reached the low 60’s this afternoon. And with that north wind blowing, it didn’t feel close to that warm. I should have just worn tights.

But, it was a good ride, with good company. It was nice not to be toasted from 100 degree weather. But, this chilly weather definitely takes some getting used to. I hadn’t ridden a 200k since May, so knew I would be wiped out at the end, and I was. I ended up with 129.1 miles, and finished the ride in 10:08.

Itasca Disasta route.

I installed a new chain on the Corsa yesterday, and took off on it this morning, headed for Martins Mill. It was my first ride on the wider tires. I’ve ridden this size tires (559 x 28 rear and 559 x 25 front) on it before, so knew what to expect. At slower speeds on rough pavement, it adds a noticeable amount of speed, along with a more comfortable ride. At faster speeds, the lesser aerodynamics becomes obvious, especially coasting down a big hill. Overall speed gain or loss, I guess would depend on the route. On the rough roads around here, I don’t think I’ll lose any speed.

It ended up being one of those days where you ride against the wind all day. I rode east to Martins Mill against a southeast wind, then rode back west against a southwest wind, which changed to a northwest wind 13 miles from home. That’s where I hit the cold front. It was pretty impressive, with the temperature dropping 15 degrees or so instantly, and northwest winds gusting over 30 mph. But, I didn’t see any rain, and it was still in the low 60’s when I got home, so I didn’t get chilled at all. In fact, the cooler air felt pretty good, but that wind sure slowed me. I ended up with 62.1 miles.

Today’s route to Martins Mill.

Until my back yard metal building gets built in the middle of October, a lot of my stuff will remain in storage. But, I brought home some stuff from storage this week, including our Screamer tandem and the Xstream. I also found my bike tool kit, and brought it home. Rose and I did a 25 mile ride on the Screamer yesterday morning. Then, I broke out the bike tool kit and did some maintenance.

I dug out my old HED wheels, put a 28mm wide tire on the rear wheel, and a 25mm wide tire on the front, and put them on the Xstream. I moved the A23’s that were on the Xstream, which had the same width tires, to the Corsa. So now, neither the Screamer, Xstream, nor Corsa have skinny road tires (at least not on the rear wheel). A bit wider tires seem appropriate for the rough roads I too often end up on around here. I also installed a new fairing on the Xstream.

The Corsa’s chain had been making some noise and shifting a bit funny, so I broke out the chain checker and inspected it. Sure enough, it’s dead. Not only did the .75″ side of the checker fall into it, so did the 1″ side. So, the Corsa will remain parked until its new chain arrives.

I spent the first couple of hours this morning spreading topsoil in my back yard (got a dump truck load of it yesterday). Then, I decided to try and get in a ride before the rains show up. I took off on the Xstream, my first ride on it since early spring. The brand new fairing didn’t stay new long. At mile 15, it started raining, and it rained on and off for the next 15 miles to Martins Mill. I managed to avoid the showers on the return ride, and the roads dried out pretty quickly. I ended up with 60.3. miles.

On the road with a new fairing.

Today’s route.